Hospital bed control mechanism for handicapped patient

ABSTRACT

Positioning of a motorized hospital bed may be remotely controlled by a handicapped patient, with poor muscular coordination or very little strength, by means of a patientactuated control mechanism uniquely constructed to obtain high mechanical advantages so that very little force need be exerted by the patient on the mechanism to effect a desired control. Moreover, the point at which force is applied is not critical. Briefly, a rocker bar is pivotally mounted to a switch box at the midpoint between a pair of spring-loaded push buttons, each of which controls the same adjustment (for example, back positioning) but in opposite directions. Clockwise tilting of the rocker bar depresses one of the push buttons, while counterclockwise tilting actuates the other. High mechanical advantages are achieved by attaching to the rocker bar an actuator which essentially constitutes a pair of levers with large surface areas at their end portions, each lever extending from one of the rocker bar ends. A very small force applied by the patient anywhere within a selected one of the large areas depresses a selected push button to achieve desired positioning of the back adjustment for the hospital bed.

United States Patent [1 1 Miller et al.

[ HOSPITAL BED CONTROL MECHANISM FOR HANDICAPPED PATIENT inventors: Robert C. Miller, Elgin; Carl K.

Miller, Libertyville; Donald L. Paulson, Meadows, all of ill.

[73] Borg-Warner Corporation, Chicago,

lll.

Filed: Oct. 21, 1971 Appl. No.: 191,280

Assignee:

200/159 R, DIG. 2

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1967 De Smidt 200 172 A x 10/1966 Melvin, Jr.... 200/172 A 1/1959 Cox 200/172 A x Primary Examiner-Robert K. Schaefer Assistant Examiner-William- J. Smith Attorney-Donald W. Banner et a1.

[451 July 3,1973

57 ABSTRACT Positioning of a motorized hospital bed may be remotely controlled by a handicapped patient, with poor muscular coordination or very little strength, by means of a patient-actuated control mechanism uniquely constructed to obtain high mechanical advantages so that very little force need be exerted by the patient on the mechanism to effect a desired control. Moreover, the point at which force is applied is not critical. Briefly, a rocker bar is pivotally mounted to a switch box at the midpoint between a pair of spring-loaded push buttons, each of which controls the same adjustment (for example, back positioning) but in opposite directions. Clockwise tilting of the rocker bar depresses one of the push buttons, while counterclockwise tilting actuates the other. High mechanical advantages are achieved by attaching to the rocker bar an actuator which essentially constitutes a pair of levers with large surface areas at their end portions, each lever extending from one of the rocker bar ends. A very small force applied by the patient anywhere within-a selected one of the large areas depresses a selected push button to achieve desired positioning of the back adjustment for the hospital bed.

1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figures BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a novel control mechanism that may be operated by a handicapped patient to remotely control the positioning of an adjustable motorized hospital bed.

Hand-held, push button-actuated switch boxes, electrically connected to the motor-drive system of an adjustable hospital bed, arewidely employed to permit patients to remotely control various adjustments of the bed. Usually, the mattress. supporting structure or frame is articulated, being divided into four interconnected sections or panels, namely a back section, a center or seat section, an upper knee or thigh section and a lower knee or foot section. One motor-driven adjustment that may becontrolled by the patient raises or lowers the two knee sections where they join together, thereby controlling the position of the patients knees. Another adjustment, under the patients control, pivots or tilts the back section with respect to the center section so that the patients back and head may be raised or lowered. In many cases, a third motor-driven adjustment may be controlled by the push button-actuated switch box to vertically adjust the entire mattresssupporting frame.

Unfortunately, such switch boxes cannot be used by patients with poor muscular coordination or very little muscular strength. Most arthritic, spastic, paraplegic, hemiplegic and quadriplegic patients cannot operate the hospital bed control boxes developed heretofore. As a result, a nurse or hospital attendant must be called upon anytime bed readjustments is desired by the handicapped patient.

This shortcoming of prior hospital bed control mechanisms has now been overcome. With the present invention, it is now possible for all patients, regardless of their particular handicap, to exercise control over the various adjustments or functions of their bed. The one adjustment that the handicapped patient is most desirous of controlling is back positioning. The other two (knee and high-low) are relatively unimportant as far as the handicapped patient is concerned. Hence for practical reasons, the invention only has to be applied to the back adjustment and this is the case in the disclosed embodiment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A patient-operated control mechanism constructed in accordance with the invention facilitates remote control by a handicapped patient of at least one adjustment of an adjustable motorized hospital bed. The control mechanism comprises a switch box electrically connected to the motorized hospital bed and including a pair of spaced-apart, spring-loaded push buttons each of which, when depressed, effects the same predetermined adjustment (for example, back positioning) of the hospital bed except in the opposite direction. An elongated rocker bar has a depending center projection pivotally mounted to the switch box at the midpoint between the push buttons. The bar also has a pair of depending end portions each of which is positioned above and in alignment with a respective one of the push buttons. In this way, tilting of the rocker bar in opposite directions causes respective ones of the push buttons to be depressed. A rocker bar actuator, secured to the rocker bar, effectively provides a pair of levers with relatively large surface areas at their end portions and respectively extending from the two ends of the rocker bar to obtain high mechanical advantages so that very little force need be exerted at any point within any selected one of said large areas by a handicapped patient to selectively depress either one of the push buttons to achieve desired positioning of the predetermined adjustment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The features of the invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention may best be understood, however, by reference to the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which like reference numbers identify like elements, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a control mechanism constructed in accordance with-the invention; specifically, it shows a hand-held, push buttonactuated switch control box of one type previously used by non-handicapped patients to remotely control hospital bed adjustments;

FIG. 2 is a plan view, partially broken away, illustrating the complete control mechanism and this essentially constitutes a modification of the prior art unit of FIG. 1; and,

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the control mechanism of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT The switch box of FIG. 1, designated generally by reference numeral 10, is customarily hand-held by a patient and includes a series of four spring-loaded push buttons Il-14 for selectively actuating switches (not shown) within remote control box 10 which are electrically connected via cable 16 to a motorized hospital bed. The electrical circuitry and motor-driven mechanical apparatus may take any of a variety of well known forms in order to achieve the functions indicated by the labels in FIG. I. Specifically, depressing push buttons 11, 12, 13 and 14 one at a time in the order named raises the knee sections, raises the back section, lowers the back section and lowers the knee sections.

As examples of two different electrical systems that may be controlled by the push buttons of box 10 to effect knee and back adjustments in a hospital bed, attention is directed to U.S. Pat. No. 3,222,693, issued Dec. 14, I965 in the name of Fred Pruim et al. and copending patent application Ser. No. 187,725 filed Oct. 8, 1971 in the name of Kenneth W. Pad'gitt.

In accordance with the present invention, hand-held control unit l0 may be modified to permit its use by handicapped patients to remotely control the back adjustment. This is done by pivotally mounting an elongated rocker bar 19 to switch box 10 in such a way that the bar will be spring-loaded and will be capable, upon rocking or tilting, to selectively depress either one of push buttons 12 and 13. More particularly, rocker bar 19 is essentially rectangular shaped with a depending center projection 19a and a pair of depending end portions 19b and 19c. Pivotal mounting of the rocker bar is accomplished by screw 21, washers 22 and 23, and coil spring 24. The screw extends through aperture 24 in the switch box and threads into center projection 19a. Coil spring 24, coaxial with screw 21, is slightly compressed between washers 22 and 23. The amount of compression may be varied by adjusting screw 21. Each of depending end portions 19b and 19c is positioned above and in alignment with a respective one of push buttons 12 and 13.

Substantial leverages or mechanical advantages are obtained so that rocker bar 19 may be rocked in either clockwise or counterclockwise direction, sufficiently to depress push buttons 12 and 13, by the exertion of very little force on the part of the handicapped patient. As a practical matter, the desired mechanical advantages may be accomplished by any device that effectively provides a pair of levers respectively extending from the two ends of the rocker bar. In the illustrated embodiment, the actuator for the rocker bar takes the form of a large U-shaped member 27 secured to rocker bar 19 by a pair of screws 28. Relatively large surface areas are thus provided at the end portions of actuator 27. Because of the mechanical advantages and large size of actuator 27, only very slight forces anywhere on the end portions are needed to tilt actuator 27 in either direction to rock rocker bar 19 and selectively depress a desired one of push buttons 12 and 13.

Since the various handicaps that may be accommodated by the present invention differ considerably, it is contemplated that rocker bar actuator 27 will be hand fabricated by an orthotist and customized to the specific needs of the particular handicapped patient using the hospital bed. In some cases, it is best to have the control mechanism held in a fixed position. For example, it could be inserted into a holder which in turn is secured to a side rail or restraining side of the bed. In other cases, it may be preferable to have the control mechanism lying loose on the surface of the bed. In still other cases, it is best to mount the control mechanism adjacent the patients head.

It is to be understood that depending on the particular handicap present, the rocker bar actuator will be engaged and moved by any of many different parts of the patients body, such as the foot, hip, wrist, fist, forearm, elbow, shoulder, chin, head, etc. For example, whenthe patient is a quadriplegic, the patients head will serve as the prime mover for the control mechanism' The wide variety of handicaps requires many different configurations and shapes for the rocker bar ac tuator, such as paddles, auxiliary straps, string anchors,

etc. i

It is to be noted in FIG. 2 that push buttons 11 and 14 are accessible. This permits the nurse orattendant to operate the switch box to control the knee adjustment.

The invention provides, therefore, a uniquely constructed control mechanism which allows handicapped patients with partial paralysis, poor muscular coordination or very limited strength to remotely control at least one hospital bed adjustment or function.

While a particularembodiment of the invention has been shown and described, modifications may be made, and it is intended in the appended claims to cover all such modifications as may fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. A patient-operated control mechanism for facilitating remote control of the back adjustment of an adjustable motorized hospital bed by a handicapped patient with poor muscular coordination or very little strength, comprising:

a switch box electrically connected to the motorized hospital bed and including a pair of spaced-apart, spring-loaded push buttons one of which, when depressed, effects raising of the patients back whereas depressing of the other push button causes lowering of the patients back;

an elongated rocker bar having a depending center projection pivotally mounted to said switch box at the mid-point between said push buttons and also having a pair of depending end portions each of v which is positioned above and in alignment with a respective one of said push buttons, tilting of said bar in opposite directions causing respective ones of said push buttons to be depressed by the depending end portions; and

a rocker bar actuator, secured to said rocker bar, ef-

fectively providing a pair of leverswith very large surface target areas at their end portions and extending substantial distances from the two ends of said rocker bar to obtain very high mechanical advantages so that very little force need be exerted at any point within any-selected one of said large target areas by a handicapped patient to selectively depress either one of said push buttons in order to achieve desired positioning of the back adjustment of the hospital bed,

, the shape of said rocker bar actuator being customized to accommodate the specific needs and handicap of the particular patient using the hospital bed. 

1. A patient-operated control mechanism for facilitating remote control of the back adjustment of an adjustable motorized hospital bed by a handicapped patient with poor muscular coordination or very little strength, comprising: a switch box electrically connected to the motorized hospital bed and including a pair of spaced-apart, spring-loaded push buttons one of which, when depressed, effects raising of the patient''s back whereas depressing of the other push button cauSes lowering of the patient''s back; an elongated rocker bar having a depending center projection pivotally mounted to said switch box at the mid-point between said push buttons and also having a pair of depending end portions each of which is positioned above and in alignment with a respective one of said push buttons, tilting of said bar in opposite directions causing respective ones of said push buttons to be depressed by the depending end portions; and a rocker bar actuator, secured to said rocker bar, effectively providing a pair of levers with very large surface target areas at their end portions and extending substantial distances from the two ends of said rocker bar to obtain very high mechanical advantages so that very little force need be exerted at any point within any selected one of said large target areas by a handicapped patient to selectively depress either one of said push buttons in order to achieve desired positioning of the back adjustment of the hospital bed, the shape of said rocker bar actuator being customized to accommodate the specific needs and handicap of the particular patient using the hospital bed. 